Meet the team

Amanda and Birdie

Amanda

Director and Founder of In Harmony With Horses

My journey with horses began at a very early age, yes I was one of those annoying kids who nagged her parents relentlessly until they caved in and sent me for riding lessons. I spent many happy Saturdays riding and helping out at the stables until at the age of ten my child hood dream came true and my first pony arrived.

I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to know, live and learn from the many horses who have touched my life, whether they were in my care or in the care of someone else they all seemed to have a lesson to teach, very often the lesson was learned the hard way!

During my time at college and the following years when I was working in various roles within the leisure industry, (film, skiing, pub and restaurant to name a few!) My love of horses never waned and eventually brought me back to my roots at the local riding school. A new chapter of my life began. Wanting to give back to these big hearted animals I trained in Equine Massage, Essential oil therapy, and crystal healing. My desire to help didn’t stop there and my passion to help improve the lives of horses sent me on a journey to learn about the horse from the inside out, sharing my knowledge with others and spreading the word. I met many horses in my role as a horse whisperer and you guessed it they all had a lesson to teach. The biggest lesson was one of forgiveness and unconditional love. My role has now transformed from horse whisperer to horse and people listener becoming qualified as an Equine guided life coach.

Drawing on my many years of connection to horses, the lessons I have learned from life and my firm belief in the healing and teaching power of horses I created In Harmony with Horses, where horses and people can learn and heal each other. I have been blessed with meeting many inspirational people and horses along my life path and I now invite you to join me, to spend time with my herd and bask in the Wisdom of the horse.

Alison

Astrologer

Alison was born in Johannesburg and spent her childhood running around the veld. She left South Africa when she was 18 years old because of apartheid and came to Britain. She was diagnosed with manic depression at 19 years and spent seven years recovering and started following a astrology shamanic path and learning many healing methods such as reiki and flower essences. In her late twenties she was given the opportunity to run a User Led crisis house in Birmingham called Anam Cara and so the ‘wounded healer’ archetype became very much part of her life.

Alison is now a full time astrologer and has always had a close relationship with horses since childhood. Alison has always enjoyed being at the cutting edge of innovations in healing and so combining astrology and horse healing is a dream come true. Alison does a regular blog for Mahala’s Planet Alert in America and she leads trips to sacred sites which have a special relationship with planetary bodies.

The crew!

Millie

Millie is our largest herd member and has a heart to match. I have had the pleasure of her in my life since she was born and have watched her grow and mature over the past fifteen years. Although she has a very famous grandfather in Nijinsky (a top race horse), her talents lie in being a profound healer and teacher.

Arko

Arko is our resident Hafflinger. He is the joker in the pack and always manages to elicit a smile from us humans. He loves everyone and everything; if he was human he would be medallion man. His motto? If I can see it I must be able to eat it!!

Zan

Zan is the baby of the herd. His breeding, half quarter horse, half paint horse has given him his unusual colouring and one blue eye one brown eye which is a trait he shares with my dog Blue. He is on the whole a very laid back chap but when he decides to show us his amazing quarter horse gallop the rest of the herd are left standing!

Laddie

Laddie came into the herd eight years ago and is a firm favourite with everyone. Amazingly nimble and light on his feet for a Gypsy Cob he likes to give Zan a run for his money. Laddie loves to balance chakras and has an incredible healing energy. His distinctive mark on his forehead is in the shape of an S which I firmly believe stands for special.

Silver

Silver is the oldest member of the herd and brings with her age huge amounts of wisdom and spirituality. I am convinced that Silver is an Equine Angel, I’m sure she has invisible wings. In spite of a few health issues of her own she is always willing to give healing to those in need. A real free spirit, Silvers motto? Do not shut me in!

Marlon

Marlon is the tiny tot in terms of size but big on personality. Cute as a button and as round as one, you often hear him coming before you see him (but we will leave that one to your imagination!). Marlon is also a bit of a trickster, he likes to pretend he can only move at a snails pace but when he thinks no humans are looking he has a turn of speed you would expect to see in a turbo charged lawnmower. Marlon you’ve been rumbled!

Sappho Lola

Sappho is an Andalucian Shire mare. She joined the herd in spring of 2015 and is proving a real asset to the team. Sappho loves people and really enjoys working with children. She is also a big flirt and I have clocked her many a time giving Arko and Laddie the run around!

Blue

They say a dog is a mans best friend, well sorry guys he is this gals best friend. He retired from horse training duties at the tender age of one as he decided there were much better things to do than that. A result of one of those things is Luna. He loves sitting on people during workshops and although no longer gets too involved with training he likes to keep the horses in check.

Luna

Yes you guessed it Luna is Blues daughter. A bundle of energy she will play all day, you throw it, Luna will run after it. She particularly loves children so is in seventh heaven when the younger ones are visiting the barn. Luna spends many hours in the field sitting with the horses, particularly Zan, its fascinating to watch this interspecies interaction.

Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL)

Horses are amazing facilitators in the world of human development. Our unique EFL project uses horses to help people physically, mentally and emotionally.

Natural Horsemanship and Health

Wish you could hear what your horse has to say about his life, love and concerns? Enhance your connection with your horse by improving listening skills, understanding the importance of environments, and which techniques and tools help and hinder.